The underside of the roof of our balcony seems to be the perfect place for wasps to build nests. They build one there every year. I just donned the nearest thing to a hazmat suit I could come up with and sprayed one with a chemical spray, as I have done before. It did the job, but I don’t feel at all good about it.
Does anyone know of an alternative, preferably natural/non chemical, or, even better, something to stop them building the nest in the first place?
Why not just leave them alone?
When we lived in England we had an inside courtyard garden and every year the wasps used to build nests under the eaves. In 20 years or so nobody got stung: we found that they were totally non-aggressive.
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I would be ok with that, but my wife gets hysterical when they get anywhere near.
It was the same with us at first.
Then we realised that if we left the wasps alone, they just ignored us.
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Wasps have loved our veranda, our terrace and the eaves of our utility room right next to our main entrance since we’ve been here which is now nearly 30 years. Each year they make a new nest in a few places. Usually 18in-2ft away from last year’s!
They are totally non-aggressive unless their direct flight back to the nest is obstructed or unless there is sudden arm-waving or attempts to chase them away. A vehicle standing outside acquired a nest or two and around those for some reason an advance guard of 1-3 came out to defend when I came near. Probably because they aren’t used to anyone approaching that area Whereas veranda and entrance they are used to us going in and out. Interestingly they seem to be more defensive if someone new visits - there is more movement and humming and cautious winged vigilance. But no attacks.
I do keep an eye out for anything that looks like a hornet though as in some years there has been a variety about which seems to want to attack even if not provoked.
I’ve got an idea wasps are eating flies this year which I’m all in favour of.
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I was told that peppermint oil added to a spray bottle of water, then sprayed in the areas where wasps tend to congregate, works well to deter them. I did seem to have alot of wasps last year, for different reasons, so will be giving it a try this year. Peppermint oil also seems to deter various other beasts, so hoping it also has a wider reaching effect 
Years ago I did have a large hornets nest build up between a window and shutter, principally as the window hadn’t been opened for a long time as nobody had been in the house. I did toy with inviting the pompier to get rid of it, as I heard that this is something they do, but in the end I donned head to toe cover and removed it myself, although certainly wouldn’t be rushing to do that again 
very amusing at the time, but when I look back on it, perhaps a little crazy!
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It is rare that pompiers will deal with nests on private property now, and even rarer if they do it for free.
We had an ongoing problem with wasps nests, which don’t bother us but having a gîte made it prudent to deter them. We put up fake wasps nests and really didn’t believe they would work, but very cheap so gave it a try. But they did, and continue to do so. Not had a wasps’ nest since!
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That sounds like a good idea! Where can you get them and what are they called in French?
Some dispute that they work
Try “Leurres de Nid de Guêpe” as a search phrase.
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Quite possible it’s just a coincidence, but ours only cost a few euros each so not exactly a major investment. Search on ‘faux nid de guêpe’.
We did have a wasps’ nest last year, but on the other side of the house. Only noticed it when we heard munching sounds in upstairs toilet. They had come in through stone wall, and were busy destroying our insulation and munching through the placo. So actually prefer them making nests in plain sight under the eaves!!
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Peppermint oil is also good for deterring clover mites of which we have thousands crawling over the patio and furniture. I spray it on the tables, chairs and loungers when I know we have guests coming and warn them not to wear white trousers, skirts or shorts! Works for a short while. I am going to try soaking pads of some sort with it and putting under the furniture legs to see if that helps.
I too have found that if you leave them, they leave you alone. Unfortunately this means that visitors have to be led around the garden and swimming pool to indicate where there are nests. There then follows a lecture on Children, the merits of ‘waving’ at a wasp, leaving cans of drink etc unguarded, or just flopping into a chair or lounger without checking. (We have about ten separate nests that move around most years).
We’ve had nests in loft space and the roof of the shed many years, but when they started nesting inside the wall & I could hear them in the kitchen that particular nest got eliminated. They would usually find a way into the house and bumble around slightly grumpily, which wasn’t nice. We also had hornets for a number of years and there are few things that make one feel quite as nervous as the sound of a cross hornet when you’ve just stepped naked from the shower.
We’re happily vespid-free right now, and it would be nice to keep it that way.
Wasps need water to build their nests so they can be a nuisance round the swimming pool. I tend to provide them with a resource away from the pool closer to where they nest - a wheel barrow with some water in the bottom for example.
They also can be a nuisance around water butt taps (especially if the tap drips).
They love ready made nesting holes - so I have to spray inside the tube of the supports that the pool umbrellas slide into and the metal support that the pool cover rolls onto as I can’t have belligerent wasps around semi-naked guests.
Some wasps are more bad-tempered than others. I find the ones with thin bodies and very dangly legs that make tiny nests in the door frame of our car to be particularly aggressive, which is tough when I want to open the car door.
Get her a grip 